Hungarian government office chief: Immigration wrong way for Hungary, Europe

Budapest, December 28 (MTI) – Europe and Hungary have reached a turning point due to migration, and this will shape the continent’s future, government office chief Janos Lazar said on Monday.

“There are many in Europe who think we will be stronger if we invite as many migrants as possible, but we believe this is the wrong way to go”, Lazar told Radio 7, the local station in his constituency, Hodmezovasarhely, in south Hungary.

Hungary has a chance to save its integrity and remain Hungarian, avoiding changes in social values, he said. Hungary must retain its own traditions and culture, he said, adding that there may come a time in Europe when Christianity becomes a minority, “but this would not be a Europe that we know today”.

“In the course of history there has been a time when Hungarians were in minority, and that led to Trianon,” Lazar said, referring to the peace treaty ending World War I which caused Hungary to lose two-thirds of its territory. The issues of migrants and mandatory quotas for receiving are important from the point of view of the nation’s long-term strategy, he said.

Hungary’s most important goal is to support families, he said, adding that the Fidesz government had shown in 1998-2002 that its core social value is the family, and it has continued to do so since 2010.

Viktor Orban’s governments have introduced several subsidies for home building while the Socialist governments scrapped tax breaks for families with children and replaced forint-based subsidised home loans with foreign currency based ones, he said. The government is now introducing new home subsidies, including a grant of 10 million forints for families with three children and a preferential 20-year loan of another 10 million forints, he added.